One Honest Indie

“Reject the tyranny of picked. Pick yourself.” ― Seth Godin, Poke the Box

  • Home
  • About Me
    • Privacy Policy
    • GDPR Privacy Policy
  • What is Dystonia?
  • My Novels and Short Fiction
    • The Sam McRae Mystery Series
      • Identity Crisis
      • Least Wanted
      • Riptide
      • Deep Six
      • Law Can Be Murder
    • The Erica Jensen Mysteries
    • My Other Novels
      • Invisible Me
      • The Planck Factor
    • Short Stories
  • For Writers
    • Indie Publishing
    • Blogging
    • Screenwriting
    • Writing Advice
    • Marketing
  • Podcasting
  • Hang Onto Your Work-Life
    • Frugal Living
    • Health and Wellness
    • Recipes
    • Organizing
    • Photography
    • Travel
  • Online Courses
    • Learning for Life
  • Book Reviews
  • Food for Thought
    • Bits and Bobs
  • Videography
    • My Videos
  • Contact Me

Self-Publishing 101: ISBNs and Other Numbers

04/14/2020 by Debbi

Tweet
Share
Pin
Photo by Mr Cup / Fabien Barral on Unsplash

This is Part Four in my continuing series of posts on the very basics of self-publishing books. This part discusses ISBNs: how to buy them and their importance. And here’s Part Three!

ISBNs

Let’s back up a moment and talk about ISBNs. If you decide to self-publish on your own, you’ll have to buy your own ISBNs. Every book has one and a different one is assigned for books in each format.

This means print (hardcover and paperback), audio and ebooks each get a separate ISBN. In the U.S., ISBNs are assigned by R.R. Bowker. You can get them in the U.S. at www.myidentifiers.com. Unless you think you’re going to be as prolific as Isaac Asimov or plan to write a 10-book series really soon, I’d start off buying a set of 10 ISBNs, to keep the costs down. However, you can buy them in sets of 100, if you’re ambitious and think you can use them. They’re cheaper in bulk.

ISBNs are currently not required on Amazon ebooks for Kindle. However, be advised that some distributors do require them on ebooks, which is another reason why you’ll want to purchase them in bulk if you plan to write more than one book. In any case, buying one ISBN simply isn’t cost-effective, so buy them in sets of 10 or 100.

Keep in mind also that an ISBN is only required if you plan to distribute your book (regardless of format) through ordinary retail channels. Anything outside the traditional publishing ecosystem does not need one. That means you can create books in different formats and distribute/sell them through your own website. But they won’t make any bestseller lists that way, you say? Well, that’s true. But you may be accomplishing something else. We can get into those details later, too.

The Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) (optional)

I don’t know about you, but I like the idea of giving my books the most professional look I can manage without losing my shirt on a tight budget.

Obtaining an LCCN is easy and it’s free. All publishers (including self-published authors) can sign up for an LCCN here.

It takes only a matter of weeks usually to get your assigned number, which should be printed as specified when assigned in the copyright section of your book.

Here’s an example:

Actual copyright page from the fourth Sam McRae mystery.

If you want to learn more about creative writing and working at home (in general), feel free to check out my YouTube channel, where I discuss books and more!

Tweet
Share
Pin

Filed Under: For Writers, Indie Publishing Tagged With: Authorpreneurs, Cataloging Numbers, Indie Authors, Indie Publishing, ISBNs, Metadata, Self-Publishing

Meet Debbi

Welcome to my writers' corner of the Internet. I'm a novelist, who also writes short stories and screenplays. I hope to share the benefit of my experiences as an indie author with dystonia since 2009. I also post a lot of book reviews, because I love to read and learn new things. I hope to share that knowledge with you.

Click on the cover for a free copy!

Beginner’s Guide to Mystery Writing

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Follow

Categories

  • Accountability
  • Accountability
  • Announcement
  • Bits and Bobs
  • Blogging
  • Book Reviews
  • Commentary
  • Creative Entrepreneurship
  • Curated Links
  • Film Review
  • Food for Thought
  • For Writers
  • Frugal Living
  • Fundraising
  • Hang Onto Your Work-Life
  • Health and Wellness
  • Indie Author Guide
  • Indie Publishing
  • Law for Writers
  • Learning for Life
  • Life Update
  • Marketing
  • Memoirs
  • My Story
  • My Videos
  • Online Courses
  • Online Marketing
  • Organizing
  • Photography
  • Podcasting
  • Poetry
  • Print Publishing
  • Producing
  • Random Thoughts
  • Recipes
  • Screenwriting
  • Serialized content
  • Social Media
  • Summaries
  • Tech Talk
  • Towel Day
  • Travel
  • Videography
  • Vlog
  • Writing Advice

Tags

Amwriting Authorpreneurs Blogging Book Publishing Book Review Book Reviews BookTube Branding Business Content Marketing Crime Fiction Dystonia Entrepreneurship Fiction Filmmaking Health History How-To Indie Authors Indie Publishing Marketing Memoirs Mindfulness Nonfiction Online Marketing Organizing Productivity Productivity Random Crap Random Thoughts Recommended Reading Self-Care Self-Publishing Self-Publishing Guide Seth Godin Social Media Travel Video Videos Vlog Wellness Work-Life Balance Writing Writing Tips YouTube

Grow Your Readership with BookSweeps

Support Indie Bookstores

indiebound

Recent Posts

  • Things I Find on the Internet
  • My Book Review of ‘Organized Enough’
  • Quiet on the Set!
  • You Can Write Anywhere
  • You Don’t Need a Computer to Write

Recommended Web Services

Build Your Website with Namecheap - Get Privacy Protection Free Forever

Web Hosting

Monthly Archives

Copyright © 2023 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in